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Starting in 2007 this blog documents the multiple attempts to write a book about Leonardo da Vinci, with random thoughts and posts along the way. In early 2016 I finally gave up (or in?) on that and it was the most free'ing decision I've ever made. Maybe i'll go back to it eventually but now i'm able to focus on my other passions. The things I wanted to do "Once I finish, someday." I learned what I didn't like and what didn't work. Now it's time to figure out what I do want and what does.

World's oldest Calendar

Archaeologists found what they believe to be the oldest ever lunar calendars - created around 10,000 years ago in Aberdeenshire Scotland. They found 12 holes that they believe used to have posts in them that when viewed correctly would predict the lunar cycles. You could think of it like a year long sun dial - but using the moon and multiple dials.

While this isn't anything "new" it does push back the first known use of such technology by thousands of years. My question is what is so special about Scotland and the ancient people there that they would need, or even envision a lunar calendar? I guess keeping track of the seasons is probably more of a big deal for those further from the equator - to prepare for harvest and such. They were probably like "Hey how many more moons until it starts to get really cold?" - so they figured out how to arrange some structures that could keep track of the seasons - year round.

Another thing that is interesting about this is I doubt they were the first people to ever use a lunar calendar - it's just the oldest found. If people used anything but stone - the structures would have been destroyed by now. I think that it's also possible that smaller devices to accomplish the same things were used. Really if you knew enough about the lunar cycles and could keep track - you could just use calendars like we do today. It makes me think this is more of an "Observatory" type place - or maybe the ancient Scots liked doing it the "old fashion way."

What's even more interesting to me is that I still have trouble understanding how that all works. If I was stuck on some desert island I don't think I would know by looking at the moon what month it was. I guess If I was stuck on a desert Island I would have plenty of time to figure it out.

'World's oldest calendar' discovered in Scottish field

"The evidence suggests that hunter-gatherer societies in Scotland had both the need and sophistication to track time across the years, to correct for seasonal drift of the lunar year,” said the analysis project leader Vince Gaffney, Professor of Landscape Archaeology at Birmingham.

"Our excavations revealed a fascinating glimpse into the cultural lives of people some 10,000 years ago and now this latest discovery further enriches our understanding of their relationship with time and the heavens," said Dr Shannon Fraser, an archaeologist of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

"This is the earliest example of such a structure and there is no known comparable site in Britain or Europe for several thousands of years after the monument at Warren Field was constructed."

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